Work & commute · Waco

Work & commute in Waco, KS

Most working residents leave Waco for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Wichita (59%), Goddard (4%) and Riverside (4%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16 of 278 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 262 Waco residents head out of town to work, 16 work right here, and 10,068 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waco.

262live here, work elsewhere

16live and work here

10,068work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waco goes to work

Wichita7.8 mi away

59%165

Waco (in town)right here

6%16

Goddard8 mi away

4%10

Riverside8 mi away

4%10

Haysville5 mi away

3%8

Park City15.6 mi away

3%7

Maize12.1 mi away

2%5

Derby10.2 mi away

2%5

Hutchinson41.2 mi away

2%5

Lenexa171 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

15%43

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Waco commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

59%

26%

11%

59%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

11%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waco is a job hub

36.27jobs per working resident

A job hub

36.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Waco are

10,084 jobs are based in Waco. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waco’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waco

10,084 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)94%

Trade, transport & utilities1%

Services (health, schools, offices…)5%

$1,250 a month or less2%

$1,251–$3,333 a month4%

Over $3,333 a month94%

Jobs Waco residents hold

278 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+1046%

Jobs based in Waco, 2013 → 2023: 880 → 10,084. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.